Michael Smerconish Joins CNN

CNN has added Michael Smerconish to its Saturday morning line-up. Smerconish will host a new weekly program that will air live on Saturday mornings from New York, it was announced today by CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker. Smerconish will also provide analysis and opinion on CNN programming throughout the week. He joins the network this month. From today’s announcement:

“We are thrilled to have Michael join CNN,” said Zucker. “At a time when the cable news landscape has become increasingly polarized, his independence and passion for reasoned dialogue makes him the perfect fit for CNN.”

Most recently, Smerconish was an MSNBC contributor and for the lasft four years served as guest-host for Hardball with Chris Matthews. He will continue hosting his radio show The Michael Smerconish Program on SiriusXM Radio and writing a weekly column for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Said Smerconish, “I’ve long wanted to host a program of my own and I’m appreciative of Jeff Zucker for making that dream a reality. I think the type of content I seek to provide is perfectly suited for CNN’s non-ideological brand.”

Over the years he has interviewed five U.S. presidents including Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as Vice Presidents Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Joe Biden.

Smerconish is currently working on his sixth book TALK: A Novel of Politics and the Media, which is due out in May.

2 Comments

pete • on Feb 10, 2014 6:15 am

Jeff Zucker is a brilliant executive and a creative genius and anyone he hires will kick ass for CNN. Go Jeff, Go Michael. Go CNN.

MacGuffin • on Feb 10, 2014 6:15 am

I think CNN is on the right path. While we all love the red meat that either MSNBC or Faux News throws out, I think that has played itself out and there is fatigue of this polarization that has gripped this country.

Although Zucker isn’t the genius he thinks he is, there is a place for some reasoned analysis that is a little bit more down the center and free from the usual talking points so often regurgitated.